Developers a step closer to construction

LEOMINSTER -- Construction on the road at a South Leominster industrial park could begin as soon as the weather warms this spring, one of its developers said last week.

The planned Southgate Business Park cleared another hurdle last week as city councilors voted 7-1 to approve a city land-taking on the property. This will allow developers to take advantage of state grant money and build the road, according to developer James Whitney.

The council vote -- which needs to be finalized with the approval of an "order of acceptance" -- gives the city an easement for utility infrastructure, Whitney said.

"This project wouldn't be built without the grants, and there were several steps we had to take (in order to) use the grant money," he said during a tour of the site. "We're going to do what we can to make this thing get off the ground as quickly as possible."

But some city officials worry about environmental concerns at the park.

Ward 1 Councilor David Rowlands, who cast the dissenting vote, said part of his reason for voting against it was that councilors did not have an answer for how the land went from being so environmentally unhealthy it required the city to file a lawsuit against the former owner to being clean enough to pass two 21E reports -- which determine whether or not a site has hazardous materials -- after Whitney and development partner Barry Cosimi bought it.

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Environmental concerns

Rowlands argued, that because the city has resources tied up in the project in the form of work from the grant administrator, the economic development coordinator and the Department of Public Works, it should have "full disclosure" about any environmental issues there.

"The problem is we don't know," he said. "We know there are serious, past problems there, and the new reports say they're clean. How did that happen? Regardless of what's being planned there, it's a piece of property in Leominster. We should know what's going on."

The newest portion of grant funding comes from the state Public Works Economic Development program, which awarded Southgate Business Park $1.1 million last fall.

Whitney and Cosimi have been working for years on the Southgate Business Park, composed of 60 acres of industrial land in Leominster, the entrance to which is directly across Route 12 from the "welcome to Sterling" sign.

The main road will intersect with the entrance to a 40B residential development in Sterling, 25 percent of which will be built according to the state's affordable-housing regulations, Whitney said. Plans call for 86 townhouses and 72 apartments, he said.

The project was previously awarded a MORE (Massachusetts Opportunity Relocation and Expansion) grant of $1 million, which was used to start a water and sewer connection to the site, and it's also been approved for expedited permitting through the state's 43D law, which gives business owners a specific timeline for permitting approval.

The grants are aimed at increasing jobs, and Whitney said it appealed to the state because they were able to show they'd have a "shovel-ready" site for high-end industrial tenants.

"When we get the road in, the land graded and evened out, we'll be able to bring prospective tenants in and say, 'Here it is, we're ready to build it,'" he said.

The final phase of the development, for which Whitney said he plans to pursue additional state grant money or federal economic stimulus money, will connect the business park's road with Willard Street.

Whitney credited the city's Planning and Development office, Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella, the state Housing and Economic Development Director Greg Bialecki, City Councilors, state Sen. Jennifer Flanagan and former state Sen. Robert Antonioni for helping to move the project forward.

Seeking protection

Councilors during the discussion over whether to accept the land-taking by quitclaim deed called for a provision that will protect the city from any environmental issues on the site.

The city's attorney said he would work with developers to reach a written agreement protecting Leominster from liability on the property, which will be drafted before the order of acceptance comes to the council.

About one to 1 1/2 acres of the land formerly served as a recycling operation, where the former owner had been taking apart electronics as well as larger items, such as jet engines, for salvage to extract valuable material, such as titanium, Whitney said.

Whitney said he and Cosimi had a 21E report performed by a licensed site professional when they first bought the property several years ago, which determined they did not have to do anything to clean it up. Then, in 2008, an anonymous person reported potential violations to the state Department Environmental Protection from the late 1990s, so the Southgate owners ordered a second 21E.

That came back clean as well, Whitney said.

"We did everything we were supposed to do from the point of our ownership forward," he said. "The DEP goes on exactly what the licensed site professional tells them. We have two clean reports."

Rowlands this week asked for further investigation into the environmental issues on the site, citing a followup report dated Jan. 21, 2010 from the DEP in answer to a question over whether the land is "safe." The DEP response suggested Leominster hire a licensed site professional and consultant to make that determination.

That report never entered into the council's debate, he said. "It's maybe a minor thing. The point is we don't know," he said.

Councilor at-large James J. Lanciani Jr. disagreed, saying he's confident the developers have met all their environmental obligations and should able to move forward.

"I don't have any more questions on the environmental part," he said. "I feel that they've satisfied everything they've needed to do at the present time. They've complied with the DEP all along ... What more can we ask them to do?"

A positive for the city

Councilor at-large Claire Freda also said she's satisfied with the DEP reports on the Southgate property, and said the Jan. 21 response that suggested the city hire a licensed site professional and consultant doesn't raise further questions about environmental concerns.

"I think that's a common practice," she said. "The DEP is not going to tell you that it's safe. They're not going to put themselves in a position to be liable if something came up in the future."

Ward 5 Councilor Richard Marchand, chairman of the Public Service committee, said the "most important thing" to come out of his committee's work on the recent council vote was the promise of an indemnification clause that will protect the city if there are future problems.

"That's really the backbone of moving forward, in my opinion," he said.

Marchand said there is still a second vote that needs to be taken, on the city's order of acceptance on the land, so there's still time to answer lingering questions.

Overall, Marchand said a successful Southgate development will be a win-win situation for the city and "a good mechanism for the public sector to support the private sector in providing jobs."

"It's not a negative, it's only a positive ... The biggest cry in America today is for jobs," he said. "I think we have a responsibility to do what we can to bring good, private-sector jobs to the community."

Mazzarella on Thursday said he's "absolutely" certain everything done for the Southgate project has followed state regulations and has been "responsible and above-board."

"It just seems there's been an incredible amount of energy put forth to stop it from happening," he said.

Whitney said the environmental questions from Rowlands are a result of the councilor's opposition to the entire project. Whitney said Councilor at-large John Dombrowski, who recused himself from discussion and voting on Southgate, has also been opposed to the project from the beginning.

Dombrowski, who works as an attorney in Leominster, on Wednesday said he recused himself because he represents developer James Xarras in an unrelated lawsuit against Whitney and Cosimi over an easement issue.

"It's just more of the same negativity from Councilor Rowlands, all this stuff about the DEP is just an effort to tarnish the project," Whitney said. "Everything has been done above board. We've gotten every agency we needed to sign off on it."

Whitney said Rowlands opposes the project because Mazzarella supports it.

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